I am honored, once again, to speak to all of you at CPAC. I am here on behalf of Judicial Watch, America’s largest and most effective government watchdog. We just don’t complain about government corruption, we go to court to expose and stop it.

And when it comes to government corruption, President Obama has turned Washington, DC, into “Chicago on the Potomac.”

And when it comes to government transparency, Obama has built the great “stone wall” of secrecy to avoid accountability. Judicial Watch has had to sue what Obama calls “the most transparent administration in history” over 100 times just to gain access to information about what the government is up to. If you think the Obama administration is transparent, then I have some shares in Solyndra I’d like to sell you.

The Founding Fathers took transparency seriously.

James Madison wrote, “A popular government without popular information, or the means of acquiring it, is but a prologue to a Farce or a Tragedy, or perhaps both.” Unfortunately, DC is both a tragedy and a farce today – but as Thomas Jefferson said, “If we are to guard against ignorance and remain free, it is the responsibility of every American to be informed.”

Judicial Watch helps Americans stay informed by frequently being “the one and only” when it comes to forcing the public release of information that the government doesn’t want you know about. For instance, we found out how much Michelle Obama’s luxury vacations were costing taxpayers. (Like her trip to the coast of Spain, which cost nearly $500,000.)

I have an idea — let’s put a sequester on luxury travel to Spain and Aspen by the Obamas.

And we were also successful in exposing improper leaks for a pro-Obama movie on the bin Laden killing. This administration tells us we can’t know much of anything about Benghazi but it will help Hollywood do an entire movie with the help of secret information? The Obama approach to transparency is fundamentally corrupt: release info if it helps the Obama agenda, keep it secret if it hurts the Obama agenda. As a result of our work, there’s been a criminal referral over the bin Laden leaks. And when the president and all his men and women lie about the circumstances of the death of our ambassador and other brave Americans, we are in dark times. Congress and Obama’s lapdog media may give this administration a pass on Benghazi, but we won’t put politics over the public safety and the lives of our men and women abroad.

I had a personal run-in with Obama’s Chicago way. Shortly after Obama came into office, my colleagues and I were “invited” to the White House to talk with Obama’s “ethics czar” about transparency. And we were told, quite directly, that if we said nice things about Obama’s transparency efforts, the White House would say nice things about us. We weren’t intimidated, but how do you like that for gangster government?

The corruption crisis in DC undermines our republic.

For instance, this administration, through Eric Holder, stands in the courthouse door against efforts to secure our elections. The Holder Justice Department attacks voter ID, attacks efforts to clean up voter rolls (because you never know when you’ll need a dead voter to help you win an election), and actually opposed efforts to even ask questions about non-citizen voters on the rolls.

Because the Justice Department is AWOL, Judicial Watch is stepping up and suing states to clean up their voter rolls. I estimate that, in most big states, as much as 20% of the voter rolls are dirty. If you have dirty election rolls, then, as surely as night follows day, you will have dirty elections.

We must continue to push for voter ID laws and clean election rolls. Because it is not enough for elections to be honest – they must APPEAR to be honest. If voters think elections are rigged, they won’t vote. And that hurts representative democracy.

And speaking of Eric Holder: why in Heaven’s name is he still Attorney General!

This man was held in contempt of Congress — a historic first — for stonewalling Congress on his Fast and Furious killings and lies.

Eric Holder protects the president and all of his men from corruption investigations. Eric Holder turned our Justice Department into an arm of the Obama campaign. And now he refuses to defend the federal law protecting marriage – one of the laws he swore an oath to protect and execute. Obama even asserted fantasy executive privilege claims to protect his pliant attorney general.

And now the head of the agency responsible for hundreds of gun murders in Mexico and the death of Bryan Terry is Obama’s point man on gun control. Maybe Eric Holder should start following the gun laws before he starts helping Obama create new ones. Holder is not independent, he is not ethical, and he has turned his Justice Department into a taxpayer-funded legal battering ram for outside leftist groups.

My gosh, at least with Watergate we didn’t have body bags.

Let me suggest a rallying cry for those who believe in the rule of law: Dump Eric Holder.

The rule of law is under attack from President Obama’s imperial presidency. President Obama has released criminal illegal aliens onto the streets in order to pressure Congress for so-called “immigration reform.” Unbelievably, this president would put politics over public safety.

And let me say this about illegal immigration. Americans, including many Hispanic Americans, want the rules enforced. Secure the borders and enforce the law. The massive, instant amnesty being pushed by Obama and some Republicans is unworkable, unjust, undermines the rule of law and will harm the public safety. That is why amnesty was rejected in the Bush administration, was rejected in Mr. Obama’s first term, and why it should be rejected today.

President Obama says “we can’t wait” for Congress to pass laws he likes, so he will take executive action on his own. We should respond – “You will wait, Mr. President!”

Unfortunately, we can’t rely on Congress to protect our constitutional system of government. Too many members of Congress – Republicans and Democrats alike – are committed to one thing only – staying in office.

This is a Congress where 56 members have had family members that lobby on issues before them. Well, I believe in family values, but that is a corrupt bipartisan racket.

And you may have heard about Sen. Bob Menendez. He made our list of “Washington’s Ten Most Wanted Corrupt Politicians” for good reason. Senator Menendez was previously investigated for steering lobbying business to his former chief of staff (and girlfriend); he helped sneak an $8 million earmark for a public walkway and park that benefitted campaign donors and a former senior aide; and then late last year he was alleged to have patronized underage prostitutes and to have employed an illegal alien sex offender on his staff. Now he’s under investigation by the FBI for illicitly using his public office to benefit a big donor.

You think that crimps his style! No. Senator Menendez continues to take the lead on developing amnesty legislation for President Obama. This helps place into context why our system is so broken. Our nation’s top legislators are corrupt, and yet they seek to take the lead on key rule-of-law issues, such as immigration.

Our republican form of government is harmed when we have lawbreakers writing our laws.

Let me make a suggestion – rather than contriving ways to spend more of our money – Congress should spend more time monitoring the money that has already been spent! How is it, for instance, that our federal government spends over $3 million on politically correct mandatory brainwashing sessions where government employees are forced to chant anti-American slogans? Judicial Watch got the video of this outrage by the way, not Congress, not the liberal media.

I know conservatives are wondering what way forward? I have a one word answer: reform!

Let’s combat corruption in government. Hold accountable corrupt government officials. Promote the rule of law. Open up the government to the sunshine. Let’s combat the czars, revive legitimate congressional oversight, cut back our government to a constitutional size, end Obamacare, protect our national security, take back control of the private sector from federal takeovers, and secure our borders. All of this will have to be done no matter what happens in 2014 or 2016.

That’s why, fellow Americans, I ask you to join our fight. Please take up the cause of holding government to account. You can ask for government documents. You can demand that your political leaders make enforcing the rule of law a priority. And you can provide and demand leadership to control the rampant government corruption in Washington, DC, and in your state.

A clean, transparent government run by ethical politicians is essential to the future of our Republic.